The Albany Music Coalition has announces a free (donations accepted) series of songwriting workshops which will take place at Fuzz Records. All sessions take place at 6:30pm starting on August 2nd. The schedule is as follows:

AMC says more panels may be coming down the pipes, which is awesome. You are encouraged to bring an instrument if you would like, but it’s not a requirement. It would be really awesome if this expanded to include electronic music as I know many people who struggle with software. This is such an awesome opportunity to see how your favorite local musicians work and have them teach you at the same time.

Everyone has a different idea of the ideal way to celebrate their birthday. For some, it’s consuming copious amounts of alcohol at Matt Baumgartner’s bars until you win that free t-shirt proclaiming victory. For others, it could be a huge party pulling out all the stops, excessively lasting for several days or an annual milestone gone by barely acknowledged. For Tony Bucci, of Caleb Lionheart, it was ordering a caprese salad at lunch and playing music alongside friends, for friends.

The shop itself is an inviting and friendly atmosphere for live music, and last night, was adorned with festive balloons and a birthday banner, with homemade cake and cupcakes for the not-shy and willing. All performances were great and heartfelt, and it was fun to see the musicians jump in for a certain song or two during another’s individual set. A perfect way to celebrate.

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Summer will stretch into September with this year’s Dimensions Festival coming to life a week after its sibling festival, Outlook kicks things off. Dimensions Festival is to be held at the Fort at Punta Christo in Croatia the 6th through 9th of September. Situated alongside the picturesque Adriatic Coast, the details regarding the setting of Dimensions and its line-up alike reads like a music enthusiast’s wildest dreams.

Hosting a wide-ranging assortment of artists focusing on house, techno and the deeper end of the electronic spectrum, the festival will showcase a variety of sounds through some of the best sound systems in Europe.

The venue is located on a peninsular surrounded by the ocean just across the bay from Pula. The festival will feature daytime beach parties as well as daily boat parties which are curated by the likes of Tectonic, Beat Dimensions, Resident Advisor, XLR8R and Deviation, to name a few. Boat parties will take off from the harbor twice per day, either mid-day or in the evening as the sun sets. You can check out more information about the boat parties here.

The sixth-annual gathering of some of the biggest names in transnational electronic bass-driven music and like-minded enthusiasts, known as Bloc Weekend, was scheduled to take place on July 6th and 7th of this year and was the main magnetic force not to be ignored pulling me overseas from New York.

A couple friends of mine have made the trek in the past; with one saying “What happens at Bloc, stays at Bloc” and another letting us in deeper with his extensive and insanely well-written recap over on Bassfaced.

Needless to say, this festival year after year packs a solid line-up that gets ears perked around the world and regardless of what my parents may have thought, I wasn’t the only ‘crazy’ one who traveled out of my native country to be in attendance.

This year’s festival was to feature Snoop Dogg, Oribital, Flying Lotus, Amon Tobin, Squarepusher, Jeff Mills, Richie Hawtin, DOOM, Nicholas Jaar, Digital Mystikz, Shackleton, to name a few, as well as curated showcases from Swamp81, Resident Advisor, Bleep, Hyperdub, Boiler Room and more. I still have my rough plan for Friday night stored in a nostalgic note on my phone.

Damn it’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Sorry for the irregularity but sometimes there’s just not too much going on. That’s not the case with this past week. BOILER ROOM posted videos from their NYC show that I was lucky enough to attend, among many other releases.

First one here is Rizzla, a DJ from CT but currently in Somerville, MA. This dude played one of the best dancehall sets I’ve heard live and hes having a blast while doing it. Also shout out to the girl in the background.

Next up is a mix Bosstone did for one of my favorite music sites, AO-AO. It’s mostly hip-hop and it’s done quite well. Super good listen.

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Collar City CrossFit: Before joining, everyone that I knew that did CrossFit and loved it. I’ve been going for about a month now and I totally get it. Check em out, especially because your first class is free. Go with a friend and see what it’s all about. All abilities.

The City Beer Hall: They’ve got a big craft selection on tap and even more bottles. Their food is incredibly good, and if you’re not there for dinner you can opt for the free pizza you get with each drink. And now, boozy brunch on the patio every weekend.

518Prints: The only place to go if you need shirts printed. Period. Every local band shirt and more you probably don’t realize basically is done by these guys.